Letter: Gratitude is riches and complaint is poverty

As much as we may wish it to be so, mankind never has been, and never will be, naturally entitled to anything in this world. Granted, we have a knack for entitling ourselves and each other to things in the world that we wish to own, but the world does not do that for us. The world simply gives us the opportunities for acquiring those things.

It’s all a wonderful gift … a wonderful, wonderful gift. The way in which we perceive the gifts that we have all been given in this life determines our emotional reaction to those gifts. We are all guests here on this planet and, apparently, we have become the stewards of this planet, as well. With that, we have a debt of responsibility to ourselves and to our world. If there is a natural entitlement in this world, it is that the world is entitled to something from us in return for the granting of our existence.

People talk about rights and entitlements as though they are a part of nature. They are definitely a part of people’s nature … and they are all imaginary. The only reason that they exist is because a group of us agree that they exist. Otherwise, they do not.

I don’t believe that people are inherently capitalist, communist or socialist; Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or otherwise. Each of us is a mix of all of that. Our fears and our ideals seem to be the things that define our reactions to worldly issues and create our related political persuasions, which exist solely within the realm of each of our own imaginations.

In this country, “We hold” this truth “to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …” This is the profound basis for our strength as a nation and the reason that inequities can be brought to our collective attention and dealt with as a society. We have been learning a great deal about ourselves, lately.

My mother told me many times, “Gratitude is riches and complaint is poverty.”